The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1887-01-22
Correspondence Baitimose CoaAty Union.
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.
GERMANIUM.

GERMANIUM.
A genuine addition to the list of known ele-
mentary substances appears to be found in Ger
manium, whose discovery was first announced
some months ago by German chemist, DIR.
Clemens Winkler, and which has now been de-
scribed in detail. 1t exists in combination with
silver and sulphur in Argyrodite, newly dis
covered mineral from which it is isolated with
difficulty. Germanium has melting point ap-
parently somewhat lower than silver-that is,
about 1850 degrees Fahrenheit-and at a temper
AZURE little higher than this appears to volatil-
ize It crystallizes in octahedra, is extremely
brittle has perfect metallic lustre, is of gray
ish-white color, has specific gravity of 5.469,
and an atomic weight of 1892. 1t is insoluble in
hydochloric acid, but dissolves in aqua regia,
nitric acid and concentrated sulphuric acid, and
forms compounds with oxygen, sulphur, chlorine
and iodine. The substance is presumably too rare
and expensive to be of Importance in the arts.
A NEW COFFEE.
The discovery of new variety of coffee plant
in West Africa is reported. The berry greatly
resembles that of Arabia in appearance and favor,
but grows on rapidly developing and very pro-
ductive tree nearly seven feet high instead of on
q shrub. Experiments are to be made at once in
the cultivation of the coffeet in favorable To-
calities.
BUoYANT SUITS FOR sEAMEN.
A Norwegian engineer, W. G. Moller, hasfound
lhat reindeer hair and skin possess remarkable
buoyancy, and when the unshorn skin is used as
IL J
ing the wearer while in the water. He attributes
great value to suits made from reindeer hair, one
of which of the weight of pound may keep
man from drowning, while it furnishes greater
protection from cold than oilskin and other ma
terials.
MAN, KNOW THYsELF.
The plan of accurately measuring human facul
ty indicates the physica and mental adaptation
of each individual and offers q knowledge of the
persons capacity, which, if early in life, should
direct intelligent parents or advisers to more
iudicious selection Of vocation than that often
made 1t also provides means for making the
stagesEof individual growth, for the detection of
abnormalities of development in time to check
them, and for laying the foundation for irrational
education of the senses and the muscles. These
are among the practical advantages which are ex-
pected' to give anthropometry great value. Mr.
Francis Cation, whose work in this new field at
tracted much attention at the London Health Ex
hibition couple Of years ago, is now experiment
ing upon instruments for determining the exact
size Of the brain and the delicacy Of the senses
When these are completed, the demand may be
supplied which has already arisenfin many large
cities for laboratories for furnishing individuals
from time to time, with accurate charts of their
condition and powers. It's believed that in all
stages of life the indications of such charts must
be Of real service.
EARTHQUAKE RECORDS OF THE ROCKS.
In many parts Of the world the process Of denu-
dation has left detached columns and pinnacles OF
rock which are readily overthrow, or destroyed,
wilhelm countries once worn by glaciers there are
thousands of poised bouders which are equally
sensitive to shocks. These natural seismometers
furnish a means of determining whether severe
EARTHQUAKES have visited, since very remote
period, places where they have never been re-
corded. A study of such evidence has shown
Prof. Ms. Shaler that certain portions of the
Rocky Woraa.. Gains, the region Of the upper Ten
nessee River, the coast district of Maine, with
Saxony and some other parts of Europe. have been
exempt from great shocks for some tens of thous-
ands Of years.
THE EARTH's EVOLUTION.
Dana remarks that the earth in its early stage
of igneous fusion had no mere distinction of parts
than a germ Afterward, the continents, while
still beneath the waters, began to take shape
Then as the seas deepened, the first dry land ap-
peared-low, barren, and lifeess. Under slow
intestine movements, and the concurrent action
of the enveloping waters, the dry land expanded,
strata formed; and, as these processes went on,
mountains by degrees rose each in its appointed
place. Finally, in the last stage of development,
the Alps, Pyrenees and other heights received
their majestic dimensions, and the continents
were finished to theirvery borders. 9th waters
the first were salt, and the single ocean swept
around the globe in an almost unbroken tide
a4ll- - l. - 1uzy<
impression. Then the rising lands commenced to
mark out the great seas I; and the incipient con-
tinents were at times spread with fresh-water
marshes, into which rills were flowing from the
slopes around. As the mountains enlarged, the
rills changed to rivers, till at last the rivers also
were of majestic extent; and the continents were
throughout covered with streams at work chan
neliug mountains, spreading out plains, opening
lines of Communication, and distributing fertility
everywhere
FOREST IN A SINGLE TREE.
The Indian fig, or banyan-tree, is remarkable
for It's manner of growth and its longevity. Every
branch from the main body throws out its own
roots at first in small, tenderfbres, several yards
from the ground; but these continually grow
thicker until they reach the surface, when they
strike in, increase to large trunks, and become
parent trees shooting out new branches from the
tor, which again in time suspend their roots, and
these swelling into trunks produce other
the growth continuing while the soii contributes
sustenanee. On the banks of the Nerbudda, in
India, is banyan which is said to have sheltered
once 1000 men. Alexander the Great himself
added to its fame by stopping under it. Though
now much reduced in size by foods, the tree still
retains, according to Forbes, $50 largetrunks and
more than 5000 smaller ones, andis nearly 1000
feet in circumference Other banyans cover more
than thirteen acres.
MISCELLANEOUS.
A well at Yakutsk, Siberia, was many years ago
sunk 1872 feet without penetrating the frozen
ground, which q recent estimate, based on tenn
peratures taken at various depths, shows must ex-
tend 612 feet below the surface.
A Swiss schoomaster uses an electric machine
for inficting the hands of refractory pupils the
pain of whipping.